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by sirtsulni



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 5.3 spoilers, M/M, fuit gummies, polyamorous ancient trio, wild headcanons supported by nothing in the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26087911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirtsulni/pseuds/sirtsulni
Summary: a conversation before the end, and an exchange of sorts
Relationships: 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Hythlodaeus (Final Fantasy XIV), 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Hythlodaeus/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch, 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Hythlodaeus
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





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**Author's Note:**

> o/ this is the first i’ve posted of my ancient trio so i hope you enjoy! it’s mostly gen and there’s only one name specification! also this is all wild hc, and im in no way claiming that any of it is fact if it’s not supported by canon game lore!
> 
> morpheus is my ancient!WoL, who takes the seat of Azem the Traveler! 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

emet walks slowly through the pitiful shade of amaurot he created, eyes at his feet. the tall shadows flit around him, all chatting in an endless loop about the end of days, praising the convocation, and worrying.

he’s following a painfully familiar path, not expecting anyone else to be on it, but when he looks up, there’s a tall, achingly familiar robed figure moving away from him.

emet’s voice catches in his throat and his hand raises, as if to reach out.

the figure turns towards him, movements fluid and familiar, and unlike the rest of the shades, there’s a familiar face.

struck as he is, emet can’t move, too busy warring with himself inside, torn between hurt, wonder, and pure relief. the figure smiles at him, and continues moving, obviously expecting emet to follow.

and follow he does.

he follows until he finds the robed figure sitting alone on a park bench, surrounded by blooming flowers that should not be alive this deep under the water. be it illusion or magic, emet’s heart clenches at the sight, hefting himself up to sit on the bench beside him.

“my dear emet-selch —“

“don’t. call me that.”

his voice is rough, and he looks away, barely reacting when a gentle hand is placed on his back, large enough to span his entire body in this tiny, weak mortal form.

despite the size, the comfort is too familiar, snapping something inside him.

“how? how are you... conscious? you were .. an offering.”

hythlodaeus smiles slyly.

“over a millennia of solitude has taught me things. even here i preside only as a shade, but there is a place i can be whole. alive, with our friends and loved ones.”

emet jerks his head up and looks at him sharply.

“you mean to say—“

“oh, hades. we’ve all been dead. there was no sacrifice. it was a slaughter.”

a hysterical laugh bubbles up in his throat and he stifles it with a gloved hand, staring unseeingly at his friend.

“zodiark has only his hold on you and elidibus. you and yours are bringing memories back from the dead when you raise another convocation seat.”

he pokes at emet’s breastbone gently.

“and don’t think i don’t see that.”

emet scowls darkly and puts a hand over his chest, where the stone of azem hums with the memories of their beloved.

“for all your huff and puff, you never turned your back on him...going so far as to turn from your fellow paragons and create a memory stone for him, the deserter.”

“he didn’t desert.”

emet’s words are snarled, and when he sees hyth’s small smile, he knows he’s been baited, and slumps.

“is he...?”

“with me?”

emet nods.

“my dear hades... we spent years waiting for him to return to us in our time, knowing he would always come home to us... don’t think i can’t tell why you made this pale imitation.”

emet shakes his head, throat burning with shame, but hythlodaeus keeps speaking.

“you’re waiting for him to come home once more, but we’ve been waiting for you to return to us. to come home.”

he clenches his jaw and looks away, a thousand thoughts and feelings racing in a torrent inside.

“i have my duty.”

“and what is your duty, esteemed emet-selch?”

“don’t. call me. that.”

emet’s voice is flinty, cutting.

“my duty is to bring about the rejoinings, to give Lord Zodiark his power back so that i may stand with my brethren once more—“

“we’re dead, hades!”

that stops him cold.

“i’ve told you. we’re gone. if we were to be raised, it would be necromancy. our souls have found new life in a place beyond the living plane. we may be reborn into the lifestream if we so choose, but we are dead! we can’t come back in the way you want.”

a gentle hand tilts his head up.

“you have to let go...”

they’re silent for a long time after that, emet staring at the ground unseeingly as he absorbs it all. countless shades travel the length of the small city he created in his home’s image, stuck in a loop.

stuck in a loop of their last times alive.

how many had they sentenced to death for their primal, their god?

had He seen it?

is that why He left?

is that why he hadn’t come home...?

abruptly, emet takes the pulsing memory stone from the folds of his coat and stares at it before holding it out to hythlodaeus.

“give it to him. to the mortal that wears His soul.”

gentle hands take the stone, and emet produces the rest of the set, staring at his own and feeling the pulsing of his memories and hopes from within.

“let him remember. help him remember. because even we have forgotten some of us.”

he turns and walks away, leaving his friend to gather up the stones and stow them away, watching him with a heavy heart.

emet feels.. lost. betrayed by himself and the primal, the god he had believed in for so long. as he reaches what once stood as the gated entrance to the city, he allows himself a moment of nostalgia.

_“he’s been delayed before, hades, stop being so impatient.”_

_hades rolls his eyes and crosses his arms again, his jaw set as he stares out at the ornate gates._

_it’s a while more of vague chatting about the happenings in the bureau of the architect before the gates swing open. hythlodaeus, despite having been so teasing about hades’s impatience, starts walking towards the figure emerging from the gates as soon as he’s within sight._

_hades follows close behind, all three souls blazing and aether reaching for each other after three years separated. by the time he gets to the figure, he’s been wrapped up by hyth, clutching him close and murmuring softly, words that make hades’s heart warm._

_he steps forward and is immediately tugged into the embrace, an arm wrapping around the back of his neck and bringing him close._

_there’s a bit of squirming before the other arm wraps around him, and he’s pulled in tight._

_“welcome home, azem... morpheus.”_

emet releases a sigh and shakes his head as if to rid himself of the memories, turning and heading with purpose to where the warrior of darkness will be coming any second, and they will surely meet in battle.

the fight is a blur.

all he remembers is anguish, steeping himself in the underworld and letting his fallen brethren give him strength until he falls.

the warrior of darkness, the pale imitation of his dearest friend, seems to derive no pleasure from his triumph.

“remember that we once lived...”

he gets a terse nod and with one final exhale, lets himself shatter and fall back into nothingness, where

everything

is

dark.

“come now, hades, i know you like your sleep, but don’t you want to see us?”

hades groans softly. his entire body feels weak and useless, but the hand on his forehead is warm.

“open your eyes.”

an instinctual part of him wants to disobey, but he forces his eyes open, blinking slowly a couple times to clear the fog, until he can see two familiar faces peering at him with hopeful smiles.

“welcome home, hades.”

**Author's Note:**

> big thank u to lucy for being so kind abt my writing when i share it and encouraging me to post this i am big soft eyes


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